Foreign Investment
Japan’s Toray Industries and its South Korean subsidiary will invest 300 billion won (US$280 million) in Korea to build a plant capable of producing cutting-edge plastics used in electric cars and aircraft.
Lee Young-kwan, chairman of Toray Advanced Materials Korea, the local subsidiary of the Japanese chemical firm, said the company plans to build a new plant to produce polyphenylene sulfide in volume at Saemangeum Industrial Zone, a massive reclaimed area on the southwest coast. He unveiled such a plan in a press conference held at the Lotte Hotel Seoul on October 7.
The Japanese company plans to establish a fully-integrated plant covering all of the processes from producing PPS raw material to resin and compounds mixed with carbon or glass fiber. It will break ground by the end of this year and complete construction before the end of 2015.
The plant’s capacity will be 8,600 tons of PPS resin and 3,300 tons of PPS compounds. Out of the total output, 80 percent will be shipped to China. To this end, Toray will invest 86 billion won (US$80.1 million), while its Korean unit will be responsible for the rest of the expenses.
Lee said Toray Advanced Materials Korea plans to produce 8,600 tons of polyphenylene sulfide resin at its plant in Saemangeum starting in 2015, and added that the company will increase its annual production capacity of engineering plastic to 17,000 tons by 2018, as it seeks to further boost its exports to China.
Lee explained that Saemangeum beat its rivals in Malaysia and Thailand due to what he calls “perfect” infrastructure and its geographical proximity to China. An industry source said, however, that such a move by Toray is concerned with its recent trial of acquiring Woongjin Chemical in financial trouble.